WWDH: Pound Cake

Tonight is the night of the monthly church supper. It is a perfect night to bake and share Donna Hay’s Pound Cake. And it is the most basic pound cake recipe ever.

All the typical ingredients. 12 oz butter, 1.5 cups of sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 6 eggs, 3 cups AP flour and 1 Tbl baking powder.

Simply whip the butter and the sugar. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder and then FOLD the dry into the wet. Does it get any easier than that? I didn’t think so.

I added a cup of coconut with the flour mix and topped the cake with a simple coconut and powdered sugar glaze. The glaze added a bunch of coconut flavor.

My only regret is baking it in a square pan, as Donna listed, instead of a bundt pan. Ah, well. Next time.

You can also make it plain, with poppyseeds, with orange zest or lemon zest for different flavors. Each one is a simple cake to make.

The recipe is on page 158 of Donna’s The New Cook. Lots of great recipes in this one.

Want more Donna Hay?

Check with Kayte, or Gaye.

 

WWDH: chicken in basil and coconut broth

IT has been quite a while since I have cooked/baked with Donna Hay. Kayte and I started cooking from her books in 2015 (she started before I did) and the last time we posted a recipe was 2017. I had not heard of Donna Hay until Kayte came along. Thanks, Kayte.

So here we are again. Kayte, Peggy, Gaye, and me….for now.

I have had lots of recipes marked to make from Donna’s flavors and then we stopped. Now I an go back and cook them – with one difference – I’m trying to do only the ones I can convert it to KETO. Since here recipes use fresh ingredients it shouldn’t be too hard.

Like this soup.

Ingredients: My changes are below

3 cups coconut cream milk

3 cups chicken broth

2 Tbl shredded ginger

2 Tbl red pepper flakes red chillies seeded and chopped

1 Tbl fish sauce Red Boat Fish Sauce

3 fresh coriander roots bruised

3 chicken breasts sliced thin

2 Tbl basil leaves, dried 1 cup shredded basil

3.5 ounces bean sprouts (NOT KETO friendly)

In a deep sauce pan mix the coconut milk, broth, ginger, chilli flakes, fish sauce, and coriander (if using).

Bring to a slow boil over medium heat.

Simmer about 5 minutes then add the chicken until done. Add in the basil.

If you used the bean sprouts place them in a bowl and pour the broth over the top.

This is so good and comforting on a chilly day. I love the mix of the coconut and ginger. It was super easy to make. I do wish I had had some fresh basil but my plant passed away. 😦 I made 2/3 of the recipe it was plenty for 3 servings.

_{The recipe is adapted from Donna Hay flavors page 152}

Check out Kayte’s recipe, Gaye’s and Peggy’s. Both of which look delicious!!

 

{EwE} Visit to the Orient

This week we are visiting the Orient.  At least their cuisine.  The Orient includes many different countries with many different cuisines.  We had our choice of The Middle East, India, China,Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam just to name a few.  So our choices were wide open. I went with a Thai dish.

Shrimp with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce

Lots of flavor in this dish. Red/yellow/orange bell peppers,  Onions,  Green Thai Curry paste, coconut milk all coming together for a delicious spicy dish.

I just started cooking with  coconut oil and I love it  It has kind of a nutty fragrance with a clean fresh taste in your dishes.  I may never go back to canola oil again.

Since this is from Ellie’s You Have it Made this is a dish where the sauce can be made ahead of time and either freeze the sauce or chill it for up to two days.  That’s a good thing because I am the only one who will eat it and didn’t want it to go to waste.  I made the whole recipe but only used about a fourth of the sauce for lunch. The rest I will p0rtion out and freeze.  Nice to have a meal almost made in the freezer.

Ellie suggests serving over jasmine rice but since I started Whole 30 I cannot do that.  I just used a little of the sauce with some shrimp. And if you don’t want the rice use a spoon to eat this because you won’t want to waste a drop of the sauce!

What dishes did the other EwE members make -> Travel to the Orient with us.

And if you would like to cook along with us just visit Eating with Ellie and join in the fun.  Themes are on the right. We don’t include the recipes because we want you to enjoy lots of Ellie Krieger by purchasing her cookbooks.

 

{IHCC} Hello, Heidi!

This month we said good-bye to Curtis Stone and Hello to Heidi Swanson.  Heidi is a vegetarian chef with several cookbooks with  lots of tasty recipes  as well as her blog with even more.  This will be a fun 6 month!

Besides saying Hello to Heidi I am also saying good morning as the first recipe of hers I used was for …

Coconut Macaroon Pancakes

This is probably the first time I have every made pancakes with so little flour (1/4 cup) and so much coconut (3 cups!) along with 14 oz of coconut milk.  They were nicely sweet without having to use sugar {altho’ Heidi does sprinkle a little brown sugar on the top of the pancakes while cooking}.

These came out a little browner than I would have liked.  I blame it entirely on they griddle having a bad morning.  No matter how much I sprayed the pan they stuck.  And browned!  Lord KNOWS I would never  burn over brown anything!  Brown or not they were tasty.  I drizzled with a little honey and didn’t, and this is unusual for me, use ANY butter on my pancakes.  But then why ruin a good vegan pancake!  These were like eating coconut macaroon cookies.  Who says you cannot eat cookies for Breakfast??

I found the recipe at Heidi’s blog 101 Cookbooks.

For more welcoming recipes from Heidi Swanson visit I Heart Cooking Clubs!

It’s going to be a fun 6 months – especially for someone who is NOT a big veggie fan!

 

{WWDH} Eat More Chicken

I love the commercial with the cows.  Eat mor Chikin!  And we follow those instructions – a lot!  Not much beef in this house any more.  It’s nice to have lots of good recipes including this one from Donna Hay.

coconut chicken curry

Simple to make.  Spicy with the Green curry paste.  2 – 3 Tbl.  LOTS of spicy flavor.  I only made 1/2 of the recipe but 2/3 of the sauce.  I love having extra sauce.

Donna suggested serving with Jasmine rice but I already had some brown rice cooked so that is what I used.  I also left out the lemon grass.  Not one of my faves.  But I do at least have some Kaffir lime leaves now and lived the flavor they added.  Definitely making this one again since it was so easy to put together.

This week’s Theme was Eat More Chicken.  Thanks, Kayte, for this theme.  Loved this dish.  This dish is on page 120 of Donna’s The New Cook.

What other Chicken dishes are on the menu this week with WWDH.  Check them out on the Blog.

 

{WWDH} Cozy food for Cold Weather

Have you visited Wednesdays with Donna Hay lately?  If you haven’t let me tell you – the group has changed.  No longer are we picking a weekly recipe.  We are picking weekly themes.  This week – Baby, It’s Cold Outside  – Kayte’s idea.

When it finally gets cold outside we tend to gravitate toward stews, soups, and gumbos to fill us up and keep us warm.  This week we had all three.  One of them was Donna Hay’s  sweet potato soup.

Sweet potato combined with ginger, coconut, cumin seeds, and lemon grass.  What a wonderful combination of flavors.  Although the lemon grass didn’t seem to add much to the mix.  Donna’s recipe said to boil the sweet potatoes but I chose to roast them instead.  Lots more sweetness and depth of flavor.  I liked the inclusion of the cumin seeds .  I didn’t like the inclusion of the coriander leaves so I left them out and garnished with some extra cumin seeds instead.  The recipe is in Donna’s the new cook page 68

Warm and filling.  Definitely a repeat as winter continues and the days get colder.

What do the others make when it’s cold outside?  Click on over to Wednesdays with Donna Hay and see.

 

{IHCC} Potluck with Donna Hay

These potluck weeks seem to roll around so quickly each month.  Fortunately I don’t have any trouble finding a recipe, just deciding which one to use.  This month I chose one from Donna Hay.

Donna’s coconut and salmon laksa soup.  I had just come from the store with some very nice Atlantic Salmon and knew that is what I wanted to use this month for the potluck.  And I am so glad I did.  It was just the right meal for a just cool afternoon.  The spiciness of the laksa with the sweetness of the coconut milk.  YUM!

• 5 oz dry rice vermicelli
• 4 Tbl laksa paste
• 1 Tbl shredded ginger
• 1 kaffir lime leaf (optional)
• 3 1/2 cups veggie stock
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 8 oz fresh salmon, chopped
• 4 baby bok choy leaves, separated {I only had regular so used one leaf}
• chopped cilantro and red chilies for garnish

Cook the rice noodles as directed.

Place the laksa, ginger and lime leaf in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it is fragrant.

Add the veggie stock and coconut milk and lower the temperature to low.  When all is hot add in the bok choy and salmon.  Cook for another 2 minutes or so.

Place the drained noodles in a bowl and add the broth with salmon and bok choy.

Garnish with the chilies and cilantro if desired.

I made 1/2 of the recipe and it was plenty for two meals.  I left off the chilies but added just a little extra laksa for the heat.

Darn good stuff!!

The recipe is on page 58 of Donna’s new food fast.  For more potluck this month visit IHCC.  Pretty sure there will be some more deliciousness there.

 

 

{WWDH} Red Curry of Swordfish

Fish is one of my favorite foods to cook. Any kind of fish. Salmon, Snapper, Bass, Trout, Catfish. We love it all. One type of fish I have never cooked, and only eaten once about 40 years ago, is Swordfish. It is an oily fish and the meat is usually sold as large steaks. The meat is pretty firm, and can be cooked in ways more fragile types of fish cannot. I wish I could have found some for this Donna Hay dish but it was not to be (remember I live in Podunk) so I ended up using some nice Catfish Fillets. Catfish is also a little oily, is quite firm and very mild so it was a good sub for the swordfish since it also tends to take on the flavors of whatever it is seasoned with.

Cooked in a skillet with coconut milk, red curry paste, and lemon grass, it is quite flavorful. The basil and lime juice added to the sauce provided another layer of flavor. I served it with a little Basmati rice and lots of sauce {I always make more than called for.} I quite liked this and am glad I have leftovers. I just wish I could have scored some swordfish. THAT would have been wonderful!!

Check on our Website – Wednesdays with Donna Hay – and see who managed to find some swordfish and who subbed something else.

And if you would like to join us we would love to have you. The recipes, through November, are listed on the right. Just cook, blog, share. And if you want to join the line up we would be glad to provide a time slot for you.